"Who cares if your "deadly art" was originally practiced in a temple in some obscure corner of Bangladesh if an ill-tempered girl scout with 6 months of boxing can knock the hell out of its practitioners?" --Mike Driscoll

I think Dave probably has the most direct path, tends to look bad on the resume though.

Chuck's advice is dead on. I watch the transformation of guys all the time that come into the academy where I train and just totally change. Find the right team and you are squared away. The second part of the answer for me is to compete. If you don't say I am fighting / competing in X event on the 12th of July 2009 (for example) you really aren't as focused. Competition just drives me to train at the absolute the best I can.

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What we think, or what we know, or what we believe, is in the end, of little consequence. The only thing of consequence is what we do. -John Ruskin